Rotary dump coupler with shank wear plate

ABSTRACT

An improved rotary dump coupler with a novel wear plate for the bottom surface of a coupler shank. The wear plate is positioned in a recess formed in the bottom surface of the coupler shank and is rigidly fastened thereto so as to be seated in the recess to equally distribute the coupler weight and to prevent buckling of the wear plate which can result in fracture of the fasteners. The coupler shank side surfaces have formed on the lower portion thereof a radius that terminates substantially tangent to the wearing surface of the wear plate to insure a smooth nongouging operation of the coupler during rotation.

United States Patent [72) Inventor RussellG.A1therr Munster, 1nd.

[21 Appl, No, 884,284

[22] Filed Dec. 11,1969

[451 Patented June 29, 1971 [73] Assignee AMSTED industries Incorporated Chicago, Ill.

[54] ROTARY DUMP COUPLER WITH SHANK WEAR Primary ExaminerDrayton E. Hoffman Attorneys-Walter L. Schlegel, Jr. and Norvell E, Von Behren ABSTRACT: An improved rotary dump coupler with a novel wear plate for the bottom surface of a coupler shank. The wear plate is positioned in a recess formed in the bottom surface of the coupler shank and is rigidly fastened thereto so as to be seated in the recess to equally distribute the coupler weight and to prevent buckling of the wear plate which can result in fracture of the fasteners. The coupler shank side surfaces have formed on the lower portion thereof a radius that terminates substantially tangent to the wearing surface of the wear plate to insure a smooth nongouging operation of the coupler during rotation.

ROTARY DUMP COUPLER WITH SHANK WEAR PLATE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to railroad rotary couplers and particularly to a new and improved rotary dump coupler with a novel wear plate attached to the bottom surface of a rotary coupler.

In the design of a coupler-draft gear assembly to accommodate rotation of a railway car about its longitudinal axis for dumping operations, a wear plate for the lower coupler shank area is often provided. Such prior art wear plates have taken the form of the wear plate shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings and consist of a generally U-shaped plate I which is prebent and heat treated subsequent to being welded to the lower side surfaces 12 of the coupler shank- 14. The wear plate thusly formed attempts to protect the lower side surfaces 12 as well as the bottom surface 16 of the coupler shank during rotation and horizontal movement of the coupler on the coupler carrier (not shown in the drawings).

In manufacturing this type of prior art coupler wear plate, difficulties were encountered due to the following:

I) The problem of maintaining adequate control of the shape of the wear plate during the bending operation as well as during its subsequent heat treatment;

2) The close control required in forming the lower shank to accommodate the wear plate attachment;

3) The additional cost of I) and (2) above in order to provide the generally U-shaped wear plate.

When the U-shaped wear plate was installed on the bottom surface 16 of the coupler shank and was fastened thereto by means of a weld 18 it was important that the shape of the wear plate conform very closely to the shape of the lower portion of the shank in order that the wear plate would seat on the bottom surface 16 of the coupler to equally distribute the coupler weight over the portion of the wear plate that rested on the coupler carrier. When the wear plate and lower portion of the coupler shank did not closely conform in shape, buckling of the wear plate would often occur during service operation which would result in fracture of the weld l8 and a subsequent failure of the wear plate. In addition the wear plate 10 was generally formed with sharp projecting comers 19 which would gouge the coupler carrier or prevent a smooth rolling action during dumping of the car.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the problems encountered in the prior art devices, the present invention provides a new and improved wear plate which is contained in a recess formed on the bottom surface only of the coupler shank thereby eliminating buckling of the wear plate and fracture of the welds. The coupler shank is provided with a pair of radii on the lower portion of the shank side surfaces that terminate substantially tangent to the wearing surface of the wear plate to insure that the coupler carrier will not be gouged during dumping ofthe car.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and novel rotary coupler wear plate which is contained, in a recess, on the bottom surface only of the coupler thereby eliminating difficult and costly forming of a matching U shaped wear plate and lower coupler shank area.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved rotary coupler shank which contains a wear plate that is not subject to buckling and fracture of its welded joints.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an improved coupler shank having a novel wear plate on the lower surface that does not gouge the coupler carrier or prevent a smooth rolling action during dumping of the car.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and a study of the attached drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a side elevational view ofa coupler showing a prior art type of wear plate installed thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the present invention installed on a railroad coupler; and

FIG. 4! is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing, there is shown the present invention which comprises a substantially rigid rectangular shaped flat wear plate 20 having a wearing surface 21 formed on the bottom surface thereof. The wear plate 20 is positioned within an elongated recess 22 formed in the bottom surface 24 of the coupler shank 26. The wear plate 20 is rigidly fastened to the coupler shank 26 by means of a welded joint 28 which may be continuous or intermittent on each side of the recess 22 but not on the transverse sides thereof.

Since the wear plate 20 is substantially flat and the recess 22 has the same contour, the wear plate is positioned in the recess 22 in such a manner that it always seats in the recess in contact with the coupler shank to equally distribute the coupler weight throughout a major portion of the wear plate area. This prevents buckling of the wear plate whenever the plate rubs or impacts on the coupler carrier during horizontal and rotary motion of the coupler. As a result, the before mentioned fractures of the wear plate weld are eliminated thereby providing an improved coupler wear plate.

From experimentation, it has been found that the primary wear on a rotary coupler shank occurs at the bottom surface 24 during the constant horizontal motion of the coupler in service and not on the side surfaces 30 during infrequent rotation of the coupler. As a result the wear plate of the invention provides a replaceable wearing surface only on the bottom surface of the coupler shank and not on a portion of the sides as was the practice with the prior art type U-shaped wear plate. It is apparent that the use of the wear plate of the invention also eliminates the costly and difficult control required of the shape of the wear plate and the shape of the mating coupler shank.

The side surfaces 30 of the coupler shank 26 have formed on the lower portion thereof a radius 31 which terminates substantially tangent to the wearing surface 21 of the wear plate 20 to prevent gouging of the coupler carrier and to permit a smooth rolling action of the coupler during the dumping of the railroad car.

From experimentation it has been found that a wear plate having a thickness of from A to k of an inch and a Brinell hardness of 350 to 450 is adequate for most rotary couplers when the coupler shank had a recess of substantially the same depth and a Brinell hardness of 200 to 300.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that there has been provided a new and improved rotary coupler wear plate which eliminates all the problems inherent in the use of the prior art U-shaped type of wear plate. The wear plate of the invention therefore accomplishes all of the objects and advantages herein stated. Nevertheless, it is apparent that many changes in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the c. a rigid wear plate positioned within said recess so that its wearing surface is substantially tangent to the shank side surfaces for smooth operation during rotation of the coupler; and

d. means, associated with said recess and said wear plate, for rigidly fastening said wear plate within said recess so that said wear plate is seated in said recess in contact with the coupler shank to equally distribute the coupler weight throughout a major portion of said wear plate area and to prevent buckling of said wear plate whenever said wear plate rubs on the coupler carrier during horizontal and rotary motion of the coupler thereby eliminating fractures of said fastening means.

2. The improvement as defined in claim 1 wherein the depth of said recess and the thickness of said wear plate are substantially the same and said fastening means comprises a continuous welded joint on each side of said recess with the transverse sides of said recess being unwelded.

3. The improvement as defined in claim 2 wherein said depth and said thickness are substantially one-fourth to onehalf of an inch.

4. The improvement as defined in claim 3 wherein said wear plate has a Brinell hardness ranging from 350 to 450 and the coupler shank has a Brinell hardness ranging from 200 to 300.

5. In a rotary coupler of the type having a coupler shank bottom surface in rubbing contact with a coupler carrier and a pair of side surfaces, the improvement comprising:

a. the bottom shank surface having formed therein an elongated recess;

each side surface having formed on the lower portion thereof a radius terminating and said elongated recess;

c. a rigid wear plate, having a Brinell hardness ranging from 350 to 450, positioned within said recess so that its wearing surface is substantially tangent to the side surfaces for a smooth, nongouging operation during rotation of the coupler; and

d. a continuous welded joint, formed on each side of said recess, to rigidly fasten said wear plate within said recess so that said wear plate is seated in said recess in contact with the coupler shank throughout its area to equally distribute the coupler weight over a major portion of said wear plate area and to prevent failure of said welded joints caused by buckling of said wear plate during horizontal and rotary motion of the coupler.

6. The improvement as defined in claim 5 wherein the depth of said recess and the thickness of said wear plate are substantially the same.

7. The improvement as defined in claim 6 wherein the coupler shank has a Brinell hardness ranging from 200 to 300 and the depth of said recess and the thickness of said wear plate range from one-fourth to one-half of an inch. 

1. In a rotary coupler shank of the type having a bottom surface in contact with a coupler carrier and a pair of side surfaces, the improvement comprising: a. the bottom shank surface having formed therein an elongated recess; b. each side surfaces having formed on the lower portion thereof a radius terminating at said elongated recess; c. a rigid wear plate positioned within said recess so that its wearing surface is substantially tangent to the shank side surfaces for smooth operation during rotation of the coupler; and d. means, associated with said recess and said wear plate, for rigidly fastening said wear plate within said recess so that said wear plate is seated in said recess in contact with the coupler shank to equally distribute the coupler weight throughout a major portion of said wear plate area and to prevent buckling of said wear plate whenever said wear plate rubs on the coupler carrier during horizontal and rotary motion of the coupler thereby eliminating fractures of said fastening means.
 2. The improvement as defined in claim 1 wherein the depth of said recess and the thickness of said wear plate are substantially the same and said fastening means comprises a continuous welded joint on each side of said recess with the transverse sides of said recess being unwelded.
 3. The improvement as defined in claim 2 wherein said depth and said thickness are substantially one-fourth to one-half of an inch.
 4. The improvement as defined in claim 3 wherein said wear plate has a Brinell hardness ranging from 350 to 450 and the coupler shank has a Brinell hardness ranging from 200 to
 300. 5. In a rotary coupler of the type having a coupler shank bottom surface in rubbing contact with a coupler carrier and a pair of side surfaces, the improvement comprising: a. the bottom shank surface having formed therein an elongated recess; each side surface having formed on the lower portion thereof a radius terminating and said elongated recess; c. a rigid wear plate, having a Brinell hardness ranging from 350 to 450, positioned within said recess so that its wearing surface is substantially tangent to the side surfaces for a smooth, nongouging operation during rotation of the coupler; and d. a continuous welded joint, formed on each side of said recess, to rigidly fasten said wear plate within said recess so that said wear plate is seated in said recess in contact with the coupler shank throughout its area to equally distribute the coupler weight over a major portion of said wear plate area and to prevent failure of said welded joints caused by buckling of said wear plate during horizontal and rotary motion of the coupler.
 6. The improvement as defined in claim 5 wherein the depth of said recess and the thickness of said wear plate are substantially the same.
 7. The improvement as defined in claim 6 wherein the coupler shank has a Brinell hardness ranging from 200 to 300 and the depth of said recess and the thickness of said wear plate range from one-fourth to one-half of an inch. 